Came home today to find no dial tone on the phone (BT) and a horrible cracking noise on the line. Couldn't phone out but a friend was able to phone me but couldn't hear because of the crackle. It's the same on both phones (wireless) that we have.
Also the internet connection (Sky) keeps dropping but it was doing that yesterday as well so I'm not sure if the problems are related.
I've done the BT online fault test and that didn't find a fault.

Opinions please


P.S The dial tone has come back on but is very faint compared to the loud crackle.

Still contact BT. It isn't right that the crackle is the predominant noise you are hearing on the line.

agreed, ring up the faults department and get through to someone, usually an option 9. they can then verify the crackle on the line and send us out.
the problem will be the cause of the frequent drop-outs of your b/band connection.

to save yourself time with the operators, do the standard checks. i.e corded phone in the test socket. before ringing. if by doing this the line is clear then you have a fault on the internal wiring and if we get called out you will be charged. so just to warn you.

Thanks for the advice.
Just an update on this:
The phone is still making a loud crackling noise.
We've tried the line with the Sky Broadband dongle removed and have plugged in a corded phone. Still no change.
So I think we have done all we can. BT are coming Wednesday.

BT Line tests are not 100% accurate. IME its mostly an internal fault or in the dropwire on the house or on the pole.